Lehmann penalty rescues point for Köln
Cologne - A late penalty saw 1. FC Köln battle back from a goal down to snatch a point in a 1-1 draw at home to SV Werder Bremen, ensuring they remained at arms’ length from the relegation zone.
Late penalty divvies up the points
In Kevin Wimmer and Franco Di Santo, both sides were able to welcome back key first-team regulars from suspension, and the duo were involved in the first chance of the encounter as Di Santo outmuscled the Austrian for a close-range chest and volley that cleared the crossbar. Köln were offering little in terms of an attacking threat and duly fell behind when a corner found its way to Davie Selke at the back post, who reacted quickly to beat Timo Horn with a well-taken snapshot.
Falling behind sparked Köln into life, however, with Anthony Ujah firing just past the far post and Deyverson rattling the side-netting, yet for all their pressure at the backend of the half, an equaliser was not forthcoming before the break. There was little change to proceedings after the restart as the hosts looked to keep themselves on the front foot, but with more mistakes creeping into their build-up play, the Billy Goats remained susceptible to Bremen’s counter-attacking style of play.
Chances were few and far between, with two of the best falling to Yuya Osako, who first failed to turn Jonas Hector’s drilled cross in at the near post, before scooping over on the turn from Deyverson’s lay-off. Only one team really looked like scoring and, after Raphael Wolf kept out Marcel Risse’s deflected effort, a foul by Santiago Garcia on Bard Finne inside the area allowed captain Matthias Lehmann to convert an 88th-minute spot kick, rescuing a deserved share of the spoils for the hosts.
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